Sugata Bose demands an update to the Statement by External Affairs Minister regarding the situation in Mosul

Posted on July 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Within one hour of External Affairs Minister’s statement we saw pictures in the media that mass graves have been found around the Badush Jail. We appreciate the statement of External Affairs Minister. But, she also could have appreciated the work of a woman reporter from India who had sent the investigative report from the ground, telling us that the Badush Jail was in ruins.

So, I would urge the External Affairs Minister to provide an update to her statement and also provide the full circumstantial evidence of what is going on in Mosul and Badush area. We want to hear from the Government. We do not want to rely only on media reports. There should be an authoritative statement from the Government about the full and detailed position in Mosul.

Sugata Bose asks a Question on the expansion and modernisation of major ports in eastern India

Posted on July 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, the Minister has said in his reply that expansion and modernisation of major ports in the country is an ongoing process to keep the ports abreast with new technologies and also to meet state traffic requirements.

In Bengal, the eastern State corridor being built by the Railways will stop in Dankuni and we have a deep-sea port in Haldia. We need better passenger ferry and water-based goods transport to connect Dankuni with Haldia, the deep-sea port.

We have to think ambitiously. We can consider a Kolkata super-port which will include the neighboring regions of 24 Parganas – North and South – Howrah and Medinipur.

If such a proposal comes from the Bengal Government, will the Shipping Minister respond positively to rejuvenate that region of eastern India?

Thank you.

Manish Gupta speaks on The National Institutes of Technology, Science, Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Posted on July 26, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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Sir, I rise to support this Bill. I will just make a few points here. As mentioned earlier, the budgetary allocations in respect of these institutes has to be increased to have the proper effect. And the total number of seats allocated in all the seven institutes is inadequate considering the hopes and aspirations of the youth. We need to take a positive view on this because more than 55% of the youth in this country are unable to get seats and employment in educational institutions and in other sectors of the economy. Due importance should be given to the youth.

Unfortunately we have noticed that the HRD Ministry is habitually increasing fees. Recently there was a fee hike of 127% in these institutes and by 79% in NITs. This hike in fees makes it quite impossible for certain sections of our society to gain admission. This is quite a problem in other institutions also. Even for management institutes, the fees that are charged are quite high. In fact, recently people had come and met me. They are saying that they cannot afford higher education or technical education because of the cost of the education.

Sir, the other issue is that a lot of research is being done in these institutes and we have observed over the years that the fruits of research never devolve to the sectors for which this research is done. Research produces doctorates and PhDs but there is a gap between devolution of this research to the different sectors of the economy. The internal administration of these institutions needs to be looked into.

We really need to know the state of higher technical education, of research. So, I would suggest that the Minister should consider putting out an Annual Report or a White Paper on the status of such institutes and of the overall status in the country.

Thank you.

Ratna De Nag speaks on The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Posted on July 26, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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Thank you, Sir, for giving me the opportunity. I think The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017 is primarily brought before the House to amend the Act of 2014 by way of declaring the Indian Institute of Technology, Manufacturing and Design in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) as an Institute of National Importance. I welcome this prima facie.

I will request to the Hon Minister to set up an Indian Institute of Technology, Manufacturing and Design in West Bengal in my Parliamentary Constituency which includes Singur. I know it is a very difficult task but I hope the Hon Minister would give serious thought to my request.

Declaring an existing institute as an institute of national importance is welcome but it should be done with the noble vision of spreading knowledge and information to all parts of the country and to be vested with the best of infrastructure like laboratories, trusts, paraphernalia, faculty with PhD. If possible, bring faculty from foreign and best universities. Only then declaring these existing universities and institutes as institutes of national importance will serve the purpose.

With these words I conclude. I welcome this Bill. Thank you.

Saugata Roy speaks on The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Posted on July 26, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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Sir, I rise to speak on the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017. I would have been very happy to speak in support of the Bill if the House had been in order. Unfortunately the House is not in order since six members have been suspended. We have appealed for the withdrawal of their suspension; it has fallen on deaf ears. And today we saw another case of injustice: for the same offense that (Bhagwant) Mann was suspended for two sessions, one ruling party member has been let off with a warning. Sir, I have said that there should be justice whether in the case of the Mann or the case of ruling party members.

As far as the Bill is concerned, there is nothing to take exception to. A new Indian Institute of Information Technology is being set up at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Actually it was there already and it was called Indian Institute of Technology, Manufacturing and Design. But now the name is being changed and it is being subsumed as the Indian Institute of Information Technology, in addition to the four Government funded IIITs that are already there. So, the Minister is coming up with a bigger Bill on this issue.

All I want to say is that IT education is in a bad shape in the country. New engineering colleges, claiming to impart IT education, are coming up. They have three or four computers and they say they have a course in IT. Students passing out from there have no idea of hardware. They learn a little bit of software.

So, a national course or curriculum for all information technology courses all over the country should be enunciated so that there is standardisation of information technology education in the country and students are not taken for a ride.

Information technology in our country consists of software. Software is mainly making programmes. But, hardly we are manufacturing any hardware in this country. The chips, the circuits, the large scale integrated circuits are not being manufactured. We must give emphasis to hardware manufacturing and hardware development in this country.

The other issue is about the information technology companies like Wipro, Infosys and TCS; they are normally doing body-shopping. They are taking fresh engineering graduates. They are sometimes paying them for third year. They do not take IT graduates; they are taking students from any engineering course, they are training them in their softwares and asking them to design programmes.

We want these companies to employ the properly educated IT students who have had experience in both softwares and hardwares. With that I say that we have no objection to IIIT at Kurnool; we are happy Andhra will have an IIIT. I hope there is an IIIT at Kalyani.

With that Sir, I again repeat my appeal; please withdraw the suspension of the six MPs and also met out equal justice to Mr Mann and the member of the ruling party who has violated the rules.

Thank you.

Mumtaz Sanghamita asks a Question regarding projects for urban slum development

Posted on July 26, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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Thank you, Madam. We know that urban slums or rather, the dwellers of the urban slums, are in a wretched condition; the slums are very unhygienic, they do not get access to proper toilets or drinking water supply. Neither do they have proper shelters.

During the Budget, it was said that there will be projects for urban slum development in the form of residential houses. I want to know from the Hon Minister, what is the situation in that regard? Are there any projects, and if so, how many projects are there in purview? Is the PIP being made and if so, how many of them are active now? How many of them are in process, specially in the major cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.

Dinesh Trivedi’s Question in Lok Sabha on the minority status of Jews

Posted on July 26, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Our Hon Prime Minister had a historic visit recently to Israel, which not only India, but the world at large saw on television, the warmth with which the Israeli people have received him.

I also had the honour of leading a delegation of MPs to Israel and I can tell you that the people there love Indians very much. Having said that, the statement of the Minister has said that they have received a request from the various Jewish federations for a special status.

My question is, what is the progress? This is the great opportunity to give something for the declining population of Jews, to show them that India also equally loves them, which our Prime Minister definitely also showed.

Thank you, Madam.

Derek O’Brien makes a Special Mention on data security and privacy of Aadhaar Cards

Posted on July 25, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

We are currently living in what has been described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, i.e., Digital Revolution. Since the mid-20th century, there has been a quantum leap in digitisation, and now around half the world’s population are connected on the World Wide Web.

As per a 2016 report by NASSCOM, the number of web users in India will see a two-fold rise to 730 million by 2020 against 350 million at the end of 2015. The report also claims that 75 per cent of new internet users in India will come from rural areas. With the increasing digitisation, there is an increasing need for the security of the personal information stored by users.

In the last few months, various cases were reported about the Aadhaar data leakages and cyberattacks: the very recent Jio data breach, Wannacry and Petya ransomware attacks, and Aadhaar data leaks from Government portals. Data of as many as 12 crore people may have been compromised because of the Jio leak, and of over 13 crore following the Aadhaar data leaks. Twenty-one such leaks have been reported as of April 27, 2017. This shows the increasing frequency of data security issues, year by year. A 115 crore Indians already have Aadhaar numbers and are expected to transact digitally. As payment, health and education records are being stored digitally, such cyberattacks on personal data are becoming a global concern.

Therefore, it is essential the Government takes cognizance of the issue immediately and implements suitable measures to check all such problems in the future.

Saugata Roy speaks on the issue of suspension of Congress MPs

Posted on July 25, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Today is a very important day in the country. The new President has taken oath. Your kindness is on test here. Mallikarjun Kharge has already said that you are a kind-hearted lady and it is your intention to run the House properly.

Nobody says that throwing papers at the Speaker is very approvable. You have taken action as per Rule 374 (A); there is a provision in this rule which mandates that even after MPs have been named and suspended for five days, the decision can be withdrawn at any time.

I appeal to you and request you to please reconsider your decision. These young people may have been carried away by emotion and done something. The House is with you, we want you to run the House.

I will also request Mr Ananth Kumar to come forward and move the Motion for revoking the suspension. We are celebrating the swearing-in of a new President; we must show that we are broad-hearted and have the power to accommodate, so that the House can henceforth run peacefully.

Trinamool demands discussion in Parliament on suggestions for removal of Tagore from NCERT

Posted on July 25, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien today gave a notice under Rule 267 demanding suspension of business in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of suggestions given to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for removal of works by one of India’s finest polymaths, Rabindranath Tagore from the NCERT syllabus.

Trinamool Congress views the suggestions, given by Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, an association affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as preposterous.

Derek O’Brien said, “Rabindranath Tagore does not need any certificate from anybody”. For Tagore, humanity was supreme. It was a bigger virtue than nationalism.

The slew of suggestions given constitute a threat to the plurality of opinions that education aims to foster, and form a part of the larger strategy of the RSS to bring fundamental changes to education in India.

When what is required now are institutional reforms in education, the RSS along with the Government, continues to distort children’s education.

The MP demanded that “the Minister must dissociate the Government from this RSS-run institution”.

NCERT পাঠ্যবই থেকে রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরকে বাদ দেওয়ার প্রস্তাবের বিরুদ্ধে সংসদে সরব তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস

NCERT পাঠ্যবই থেকে রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরের লেখা বাদ দেওয়ার জন্য মানব সম্পদ উন্নয়ন দপ্তরকে যে প্রস্তাব দেওয়া হয়েছে তার বিরোধিতায় মুখর হয় তৃণমূল। রাজ্যসভায় ২৬৭ নম্বর নিয়মে নোটিশ দেন তৃণমূলের দলনেতা ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন। তিনি এই বিষয়ে আলোচনার দাবী জানান।

‘শিক্ষা সংস্কৃতি উত্থান ন্যাস’ নামে যে সংস্থাটি এই প্রস্তাব দিয়েছে তাদের সাথে রাষ্ট্রীয় স্বয়ংসেবক সংঘের যোগ আছে বলে দাবি করেন ডেরেক। তিনি বলেন, “কারোর কাছ থেকে কোনওরকম সার্টিফিকেটের প্রয়োজন নেই রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরের।”

ডেরেকের অভিযোগ এই রকমের প্রস্তাবের মধ্যে দিয়ে দেশের শিক্ষা ব্যবস্থার বুনিয়াদি পরিকাঠামোয় আঘাত হানছে সংঘ। তিনি দাবী করেন, “মন্ত্রীর উচিত সরকারকে রাষ্ট্রীয় স্বয়ংসেবক সংঘের থেকে বিযুক্ত করা।”